


Amongst the Deepest Shadows

by peevee



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Care and Feeding of your Eldritch God, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, The Hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26632339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peevee/pseuds/peevee
Summary: Daisy and Jon have an agreement."I can smell your fear, Sims," Daisy said. "It stinks."
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Alice "Daisy" Tonner
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	Amongst the Deepest Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Set after MAG 132: Entombed
> 
> For the prompt 'nonsexual intimacy'. I required JonDaisy cuddling, and apparently I couldn't just be fluffy about it.

"Are you ready?" said Daisy. She was breathing heavily already, her eyes gleaming weirdly in the semi-dark. The earthy, plant-rot smell of the woods seemed stronger than usual, and Jon could feel his heart beginning to pound, panicky. He was prey. 

"Yes. You're sure you can... um. Control it."

Daisy licked her lips. "Yes," she said. "It'll just be a taste, Sims, I promise. Besides, you're getting something out of this too, remember?"

_Anything. You can ask me anything, and I'll give it to you._

"Okay," he said. "Okay. How long have I got?"

"I'll give you five minutes head start," said Daisy. "Go on then. Now!" Her voice was almost a snarl, and Jon went, his legs feeling like jelly. Jesus, why had he agreed to this?

He ran, dodging trees and fallen branches, stumbling over mossy stones. He had to restrain the urge to bolt as fast as he could; the aim wasn't for him to break his leg and to be left helpless. Though maybe Daisy would like that too; wounded prey was still prey. 

A branch cracked loudly somewhere behind him, and his heart leapt in his chest. It was just Daisy, he reminded himself. She was his friend. They were doing each other a favour, feeding their respective patrons with some semblance of a safety-net. He didn’t even think she could permanently hurt him; it didn’t seem like much could, but the primitive parts of his brain didn’t understand logic, they only understood the fear of the hunt. He stopped moving and tried to quiet his breathing, strained his ears into the dark, but all he could hear was trees creaking gently, leaves rustling. Ten minutes passed, then twenty and he hadn't heard anything else. His heart only seemed to beat harder. She couldn't have lost him, could she? The thought crossed his mind briefly, but no. She hadn't _lost_ him, obviously; she was playing with him. Jon felt a whimper trying to escape his throat and pushed it back down. He kept moving. 

After about half an hour of slipping and stumbling through the gloom, he knew, suddenly, that he was being watched. _Stalked_. An avatar of Beholding, afraid of being seen. He almost laughed at the irony, but managed to keep quiet and crouch low to the ground, trying to hide himself amongst the deepest shadows. 

"Jon!" said Daisy playfully, from somewhere behind him. Her voice was... not quite her own. It was rough and a bit guttural and sent another sliver of fear down his spine, but he made himself stay still. 

"I can smell your fear, Sims," Daisy said. "It stinks."

He couldn't tell where her voice was coming from, but it was getting closer. He tried to calm his breathing, suppress the prey urge to _run, run,_ but god, he could hear her panting, the thick, growling heave in her throat. Where the fuck was she?

“ _I see you._ ”

He ran. He couldn't help it. He couldn't just lie there and wait, he had to get out, had to get away. His feet slipped clumsily on the mossy stones and he staggered. Branches cracked under him, and then there she was, appearing out of the dark and loping easily after him with a long, unnatural stride. Her body looked bigger, somehow. Elongated.

"Fuck!"

"I've got you!"

He tried to get away, but she was so fast. In less than two seconds she was on him, dragging him unceremoniously to the ground as he scrabbled at the wet earth, twisting in her vicelike grip. She had a hold of one of his ankles, and as he thrashed and kicked she grabbed the other and pulled him bodily across the ground and underneath her in two quick jerking movements.

Everything was gone from his head except for the all-consuming fear. He was prey, and she was an apex predator, and she _had_ him, there was no escape. A high, yelping sound tore from his throat, mindless. Except… she wasn’t tearing into him. She wasn’t ripping him apart, just breathing deep snarling breaths against the back of his neck.

"Daisy!" he choked out. She ignored him and pushed at his shoulders until he was pinned flat on his back, then shoved her face into his neck to sniff at him. Her nose was cold and damp, and the noises she was making were animal snuffles, hungry and curious. Jon tried not to gasp out loud, tried to still his trembling body to let her get her fill. She took her time, smelling at his neck and licking him in a distinctly inhuman way, but he couldn’t feel her teeth. Gradually, the urgency began to bleed out of her body, until they were just lying on the wet ground, tangled up in each other. 

"Fuck," she said slowly, her voice more or less normal again. "You okay, Sims?" She braced herself over him, eyes huge and liquid in the darkness. He could just make out the familiar planes of her face.

"Um," said Jon. He felt a bit hysterical, residual adrenaline still coursing through him. The tips of his fingers were tingly, and his breath shook as it slowed. "I think so?"

"Good," said Daisy. “Come here then.” She pulled off him, then shuffled them around until she was propped against a tree with Jon cradled against her chest. He didn't even have the energy to protest about being bundled up like a child; he just lay there and soaked up the warmth from her body as she held him close and stroked his hair. 

"Right then," said Daisy. "Aren't you going to ask me?"

"Here?"

"Good a place as any, isn't it. You comfortable enough?"

"I... yes. Alright then. Are you sure?"

“I got mine, didn’t I? It’s only fair.”

Jon looked down at her hands; they were dark with mud and who knew what else, and they were cupped gently around his ribs. Safe. They kept each other safe. He took a deep breath and _asked_. Daisy shuddered, then she began to talk.


End file.
